System, Saban give Alabama players an NFL edge

Playing in Alabama's pro-style offense helps Tide lineman Mike Johnson in the eyes of NFL scouts and coaches. (The Birmingham News / Mark Almond)INDIANAPOLIS -- Spread of­fenses and 4-3 defenses are com­mon in college football. Pro-style offenses are so named because they are standard in the NFL, and the 3-4 defense is spreading through pro football.

Alabama runs a pro-style of­fense and a 3-4 defense. Does that give Crimson Tide players an advantage as pro prospects?

It certainly doesn't hurt, said Scot McCloughan, the San Fran­cisco 49ers' general manager.

"It makes it easier for us to fig­ure out what they can and can't do, on tape," he said after talking to reporters from a podium at the NFL Scouting Combine. "It doesn't mean there can't be a tight end flexed out in the spread who can't come in and be a blocking tight end.

"It's just a system. But it makes my life easier when you watch an Alabama or a USC, you can see them more at a position where they would be playing for us."

But the real advantage Ala­bama players have is Nick Saban, their coach who has extensive ex­perience in pro football as well as the college game.

"He gets them not just ready from a standpoint of understand­ing offense and defense, but mentally, he makes them tough, he makes them competitive, he makes them strong," McCloug­han said.

"That's what's so impor­tant for young guys coming into the league," McCloug­han said. "It's not that the physical doesn't fit in. It's the mental toughness. It's the hard work. It's the un­derstanding that each day is a new day and you've got to bust your (rear), which is what Nick instills in them. That's great.

"You feel better about taking a guy like that know­ing what you're getting for sure."

Mike Singletary, the 49ers' head coach, also raved about the quality of players Saban is producing.

"Nick's done a great job of getting good, solid foot­ball players there," Sin­gletary said. "Very disci­plined, smart, physical. All of the things you want on a winning football team."

The pro-style offense gives Alabama players famil­iarity with NFL systems, Sin­gletary said. "There is a difference when you're running the spread vs. the pro-set," he said. "There's a difference when you get in the NFL, a comfort zone."

All-American guard Mike Johnson is one of 10 Ala­bama players who will be evaluated at the NFL Scout­ing Combine. Singletary likes the system Johnson is coming from.

"They've got a heckuva running back there," Sin­gletary said of Heisman Tro­phy winner Mark Ingram. "Nick Saban's an old-school guy. He's going to run the ball. They have tough guys. They win in the trenches. That's what it's all about."

Several NFL coaches talked Thursday about a pro trend toward 3-4 defenses (three linemen and four linebackers). That puts a premium on nose guards.

"Everybody's looking for a certain type of guy . . . and there's not a lot of 'em, to be perfectly honest," said Chan Gailey, the Buffalo Bills' new head coach. "Huge, big, fast, nasty. All those things."

That should be good news for Terrence Cody, Ala­bama's two-time All-Ameri­can nose guard.

"From what I know, he is going to be the prototype nose man in the league," Gailey said. "Time will tell on that."

Cody's weight concerns many people in the NFL. He came to Alabama out of jun­ior college weighing more than 400 pounds. He played last season at close to 360 pounds, but last month at the Senior Bowl, he weighed in at 370 pounds.

"I know you have to stay on him about it," Gailey said. "If he's smart, he knows that, too.

"He did a good job of get­ting it under control as his career went on at Alabama. Hopefully he'll realize that that's a part of maintaining his career for years and years in the NFL. You don't want to be a one-year won­der."

Gailey disagreed with those who say players com­ing from spread offenses are at a disadvantage.

"You evaluate players, not systems," he said. "College coaches need to do what they do to win. The good players will get found out about."